Own Time Own Target

After days of being optimistic and hopeful and putting on a brave face, I was finally broken.

All from a simple work-related call while home.

It started innocuously with the MD of a principal calling asking for an update re a subsidiary's activity report, but he made the fatal mistake of asking if I was at work first...

I was not. I'm on maternity leave. Then I tried to deflect it and asked about his recent holiday.

BUT he continued to asked about me and my baby, and I broke down.

I went quiet and later unsuccessfully muffling my quiet (I hope) sobs I told him that the baby was born very premature and was in NICU...

Somehow, having to verbalize the situation made it much more "Real" and it showed up starker as opposed to texting it or blogging about it, especially to a non-related party outside of immediate family and close friends.

To his credit, he was very kind (I think he had a soft spot for me for my work with him) and took it all in without being showing that he was too mortified by this sudden turn in conversations, in fact sharing with me that his daughter was born prematurely too, spent 2 weeks in NICU and is now 3 years old without any ill effects.

We ended the conversation on a more professional note, after I had regained my composure and giving him a verbal report of the progress of the subsidiary's activities and further action plan.

And he thought he was just going to get that report... poor chap

Labels: to Despair